tore nordenstam explanation and understanding in the history of art

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2.1. Explanations in the history of art : some examples Explanation stands in the service of understanding. When there is something that we do not understand, we feel a need for an explanation. Different types of explanations will satisfy us in different situations depending upon what it is that we do not understand. We may fail to understand what a person is doing; we observe his bodily movements and do not understand what the meaning of it is. In such a case we will be satisfied with an explanation of what action he is performing. Or we may understand what kind of action a person performs but fail to see why he is doing it. If we are told what his aim or motive is, we understand the point of his doing what he is doing. Again we may fail to understand how a person manages to do what he is doing. In such a case an analysis of his procedures might be a satisfactory explanation for us. And we may be curious to know more about the conditions which make it possible for the person to do what he does, or the conditions which make it impossible for him to perform a certain kind of action. Accordingly, one could distinguish between what-explanations, why-explanations, howexplanations, how-possible - explanations, and why-not-possible- explanations. 20 Art-historical texts contain explanations of these different kinds in various combinations. The procedure which we called “the intentionalist way of explaining works of art” uses a kind of why-explanations; the procedure which we called “the transformational way of cxplaining works of art” uses how-explanations and how-possible- and why-not- possible-explanations. 21 Before turning to the abstract discussions of patterns of explanation to be found in philosophical texts, it might be useful to collect some examples of passages from arthistorical works which are intended to be explanatory in some sense of that term. 20 On explaining how, why and what, cf. William H. Dray, Philosophy of History, Prentice-Hall, Englewood-Cliffs, N. J., 1964, ch. 2; and the same author’s paper “Explaining What in History”, in P. Gardiner, ed., Theories of History, The Free Press, New York 1959, pp. 403-408. 21 Section 1.4 above.
Example 1. Commenting on Mondrian’s Composition from 1922, which is reproduced on the front page of this essay, Hans L.C. Jaffé first points out that Mondrian was fifty years old when he made it and that he had considerable financial problems which forced him to paint flowers in the manner of his naturalistic watercolours of the early 1900s. He continues: But Mondrian was always careful to separate this breadwinning activity from what he called his “own work”: continuing and perfecting neo-plasticism. In 1925, he abandoned this indirect form of aid and, despite poverty and privation, devoted himself exclusively to his own work. An outstanding example of this “own” work, dating from 1922, the year of his fiftieth birthday, is the painting reproduced here, which again marks a step forward from the preceding one. The equilibrium of the planes and colors is reduced still further to the basic elements; over against the three primary colors, which now form a perfect triad, stand the bright white as a non-color and the tautly drawn black lines. The equilibrium is now pre-eminently qualitative, that is, a balance of weights not of dimensions, an equilibrium that from the outset excludes any symmetry. Mondrian proceeded after 1922 along this road, the road of purification, of reducing the plastic means to the elements, always constructing each new masterpiece on the basis of the one before. Although there may seem to be little variation in his work, every painting surpasses its precedessor in purity and mastery. 22 Besides indicating some of the circumstances under which the painting was produced, Jaffé draws attention to a number of features of the painting, explaining what it is. “Explanation” in this sense is synonymous with “interpretation”. This is a common way of using the term “explanation” in writings on art and literature. Example 2. In Sixten Ringbom’s book on Kandinsky, The Sounding Cosmos, one finds the following commentary on one of Kandinsky’s works: The Ariel Scene from Faust II is painted on cardboard in a sketchy impasto technique. In front of the trees on the right stands a man in a robe turned towards the beholder. On the 22 Hans L. C. Jaffé, Mondrian, p. 138.
Page 1 and 2: TORE NORDENSTAM EXPLANATION AND UND
Page 3 and 4: NOTE ON THE INTERNET EDITION A long
Page 5 and 6: 1. THE MEANING OF MONDRIAN It would
Page 7 and 8: The picture is signed with the init
Page 9 and 10: Fig.2 Composition III with blue, ye
Page 11 and 12: The rest of Mondrian’s oeuvre fro
Page 13 and 14: Fig. 6 New York City, 1942 Oil on c
Page 15 and 16: In the Broadway Boogie-Woogie, one
Page 17 and 18: To realize “a true vision of real
Page 19 and 20: interpretation. 13 If we are intere
Page 21 and 22: Fig. 8 Landscape near Amsterdam, ca
Page 23 and 24: Fig. 10 Trees on the banks of the G
Page 25 and 26: Fig. 12 The red tree, 1909-10. Oil
Page 27 and 28: Fig. 14 Trees in blossom, 1912 Oil
Page 29 and 30: Fig. 16 Trees, 1913-14. Sketch-book
Page 31 and 32: Fig. 18 Composition: Checkerboard,
Page 33 and 34: proposal lies a Wittgenstein-inspir
Page 35: 2. PATTERNS OF EXPLANATION Sage, wa
Page 39 and 40: of the painting, whereas the color
Page 41 and 42: Example 5. In his book Pictures as
Page 43 and 44: Geistesmenschen in die geistige Wel
Page 45 and 46: and the laws. A valid deductive arg
Page 47 and 48: Towards the and of the 1950s, a num
Page 49 and 50: The phrase “the right thing to do
Page 51 and 52: But is it possible to interpret the
Page 53 and 54: particularly for explaining actions
Page 55 and 56: (P3) “Normal conditions” obtain
Page 57 and 58: indications to the contrary have be
Page 59 and 60: 2.4. Influence explanations Von Wri
Page 61 and 62: influence explanations may then be
Page 63 and 64: picturesque - underwent the influen
Page 65 and 66: Fig. 23 Piet Mondrian, Composition
Page 67 and 68: It has been claimed that the intent
Page 69 and 70: 3.1. A pragmatic perspective The in
Page 71 and 72: It can be objected to Apel that the
Page 73 and 74: In a full-fledged case of mastering
Page 75 and 76: concepts which are on principle ina
Page 77 and 78: surroundings in particular ways. Th
Page 79 and 80: Fig. 24 The structure of action sit
Page 81 and 82: about harmony and counterpoint. Und
Page 83 and 84: Fig. 25 A picture with a faulty per
Page 85 and 86: must have the relevant concepts at
Page 87 and 88:
aim. 112 We cannot step outside our
Page 89 and 90:
One commentator (Erik Kruskopf) cha
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Fig. 28 Piet Mondrian, Devotion, 19
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phenomena of intense color luminosi
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point. “We may say that for Kandi
Page 97 and 98:
interpenetrate and achieve balance
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4. INTENTION AND WORK Die Absicht i
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But it has also been forcefully arg
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elations to the other strands in th
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private intention which happens to
Page 107 and 108:
ehaviour (in some sense of the word
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model. 144 It seems reasonable to a
Page 111 and 112:
If one makes the distinctions betwe
Page 113 and 114:
the master of a pictorial practice
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”At present, the new plastic is s
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explanation in history is like caus
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CONCLUSION In the beginning of this
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tore nordenstam explanation and understanding in the history of art

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